Successful catheter ablation significantly improved quality-of-life in seven of eight SF-36 subscales and all seven symptom items, compared to lesser improvement in patients with recurrence.
Observational (n=30)
Does catheter ablation improve quality of life in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation who failed antiarrhythmic drug therapy?
Successful catheter ablation significantly improves quality of life and symptoms in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation refractory to antiarrhythmic drugs.
Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) significantly impairs patients' quality-of-life (QOL). The effect on QOL of recently developed ablation techniques with curative intention has not been studied. Thirty patients (21 men, age 54.1 +/- 9.5 years) with PAF (duration 5.6 +/- 5.2 years) who failed antiarrhythmic (3.8 +/- 1.2 trials) drug therapy underwent catheter ablation. The follow-up time was 33.9 +/- 11 months. QOL was assessed preablation, 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, and 36 months after catheter ablation. The Medical Outcomes Survey Short-Form (SF-36), scored on a 0-100 scale for each of eight domains: bodily pain, general health, mental health, physical functioning, role-emotional, role-physical, social functioning, and vitality, was used. Simultaneously, patients filled out a symptom-specific checklist (SSC) with seven clinical items scored 1-4 (1 best): dyspnea, nausea, palpitations, anxiety, syncope, presyncope, and NYHA classification. Patients with successful catheter ablation had a significant benefit in seven of eight subscales while patients with recurrence had an impact on QOL in two of eight subscales. Using SSC, a successful ablation influenced scores in all seven items while patients with recurrence had a significant change of clinical symptoms in only one item, anxiety. The subscales of the study group compared to a healthy population show higher scores after 24 months of follow-up. Patients with PAF experience a significant improvement in QOL after a successful catheter ablation. In contrast, in patients with recurrence of PAF the QOL showed improvement to a lesser extent and patients experienced ongoing symptoms.
Erdoğan et al. (Sat,) conducted a observational in Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (n=30). Catheter ablation vs. Recurrence of PAF was evaluated on Quality-of-life assessed by SF-36 and symptom-specific checklist. Successful catheter ablation significantly improved quality-of-life in seven of eight SF-36 subscales and all seven symptom items, compared to lesser improvement in patients with recurrence.